Winnipeg Jets' second line combines for three goals and seven points in 4-1 win over Anaheim Ducks

ANAHEIM – It’s been a frequent topic of conversation for those who follow the Winnipeg Jets.

When will the Jets’ second line start producing more?

The answer was Friday afternoon, when the trio combined for three goals and seven points in the 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.

Although two of the three goals for the trio came with the man-advantage, it was a dominant performance from Ehlers (two goals, one assist), Little (one goal, two assists) and Laine (one assist).

Ehlers let out a sigh of relief to go with his fist pump as he snapped an eight-game goal-less drought.

The expression on Little’s face was similar when his high shot found the back of the net to give him three goals on the season.

“I should have had one earlier in the game where Ehlers made a nice cross-ice pass to me and I kind of whiffed on it a bit. We stuck with it and had a good game. Now we hope to get something rolling with us three,” said Little. “That’s the way it goes. We realize that we need to be playing better, especially five-on-five. We have been the last couple of games, getting more chances and more time in their end. That’s what you need. You need all of the lines going and when one line has an off night, the other ones pick it up.

“You’re going to have stretches where things aren’t going your way and things aren’t going well. Then there are games when things go your way and the puck ends up in the back of the net.”

With the victory, the Jets improved to 14-5-3 on the season, with 31 points already in the bank.

The Jets close out a four-game road trip on Saturday against the San Jose Sharks.

Steve Mason, who has allowed only four goals during his past three starts, will start in goal for the Jets against the Sharks.

Earlier this week, Ehlers spoke about the need to contribute more offensively, to play a more simple game and not be as cute.

Laine agreed with the assessment, noting it was important for each member to be a bit more selfish with the puck on their stick and look to shoot more, rather than attempt to make a perfect pass.

Mission accomplished on that front.

“Our line hasn’t been producing or playing the way we’ve wanted to,” said Ehlers, who is up to 10 goals and 17 points in 22 games this season. “The game against (the Kings on Wednesday) was a step in the right direction and another step (Friday). It’s great for our line and great for the team.”

It took only 34 seconds for the Jets to score what they thought was the opening goal of the game, as Blake Wheeler found Mark Scheifele all alone in front.

But after video review, the goal was disallowed, since Wheeler was offside when the initial rush entered the zone.

The clock was wound back to 12 seconds, but 28 seconds later Ehlers buried a rebound after a low shot from Laine, building on what was already a hot start out of the gate for the Jets.

“The start was huge. A lot of credit to (Mark) Scheifele’s line, they got us going on the first shift and we ended up scoring on the second one. Getting another quick one gave us a lot of momentum,” said Little. “We know it’s a tough building to play in. These guys are known to come out hard and stay in games. We did a good job of playing with the lead, even when things got tight. We’re just getting better and better at closing games out like this.”

Closing out games can be a difficult thing to learn how to do.

And unlike in past seasons, the Jets seem to be getting more and more comfortable when playing with the lead.

“We don’t have to hide a line and we don’t have to run one line too heavy,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. “So, we get to the end of the game and everybody has got pretty good legs. Our four lines would probably all like to play a little bit more and that means when it gets to the real serious and tight time of the game, they have the energy to do it.”

Ehlers extended the lead at 4:59 of the first period, catching Ducks goalie John Gibson cheating off his post and firing a shot past him.

Then after Ducks defenceman Francois Beauchemin scored on a knuckle-puck from the left point, Little scored a power-play marker that restored the two-goal cushion.

Kyle Connor supplied an empty-netter with 100 seconds to go in regulation to round out the scoring.

It was another impressive bounce-back game for Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who made 30 saves and improved to 12-2-2 on the season.

In the three starts this season after allowing five goals, Hellebuyck has given up only only one goal the next time he got between the pipes.

Having that ability to bounce back from a sub-par effort is a club every goalie wants to have in his bag, though they don’t want to have to lean on it too often.

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.